A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-4-9, relating to
providing services and facilities to assist student veterans
at state institutions of higher education.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-4-9, to read as
follows:

ARTICLE 4. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION.

§18B-4-9. Development of services and facilities for student
veterans.

(a) Legislative findings. -- The Legislature finds that
veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States that attend our
state's institutions of higher education have many unique needs, issues and concerns that most traditional students do not have.
Student veterans that are returning to fulfill their needs for
higher education who have been or may, during their pursuit of
higher education, be deployed to active duty in many instances
face unique issues and concerns that are unprecedented and unique
to the current generation of veterans of the post 911 era of
service in the Armed Forces. Many of these veterans have had or
will be subject to multiple deployments to active duty, including
overseas deployment, resulting in many unique issues and challenges
for those veterans in their pursuit of higher education. It is the
intent of the Legislature that state institutions of higher
education provide adequate services and facilities to better serve
the unique issues and needs facing the increasing number of these
student veterans and to make West Virginia's institutions of higher
education "veteran friendly".
(b) The Commission and the Council shall establish and
implement measures in state institutions of higher education within
each of their respective jurisdictions to assure that veterans
attending those institutions receive services and are provided
facilities to these student veterans in the pursuit of their
education and the award of a degree and to make these institutions
"veteran friendly" by actively and effectively providing academic
and social support and assistance to student veterans, including,
but not limited to, the following:
(1) Establish "veteran friendly" community and technical college degree programs which recognize and award academic credit
toward degrees for various types of technical and vocational
military training and experience;
(2) Develop programs to facilitate veteran students in the
sharing of their unique knowledge and experience in the military
through public school programs and local community organizations;
(3) Establish and sponsor an organization for student veterans
on campus and encourage other "veteran friendly" organizations;
(4) Appoint and train specific faculty within each degree
program or major as liaisons and contacts for student veterans;
(5) Develop state policies for all institutions of higher
education for evaluation of academic credit for student veteran
experiences;
(6) Establish a program to provide information about the
Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree program to student veterans and
potential student veterans;
(7) Coordinate existing disability services on campus with
veteran disability services available from the Veterans
Administration, other federal and state agencies and from private
resources;
(8) Provide counselors on each campus trained to effectively
respond to unique needs of veterans and to provide services or
provide referrals to services to fulfill these needs for student
veterans and develop training materials available for continued
professional development to respond to student veteran needs;
(9) Facilitate regular statewide meetings for all personnel at
state institutions of higher education who regularly provide
specific services to student veterans to discuss and develop "best
practices," exchange ideas and experiences and hear presentations
by presenters with generally accepted expertise in areas of the
various needs of student veterans;
(10) Establish a policy or procedure to periodically appraise
appropriate state and federal agencies of the status of student
veterans in West Virginia;
(11) Establish a program to create a corroborative
relationship between student veterans with alumni of the
institution and with prospective employers to facilitate and
provide employment as well as social opportunities to graduating
student veterans; and
(12) Develop and facilitate communications between state
institutions of higher education and various veteran organizations
in the state to advance veteran causes that benefit student
veterans.
(c) The commission and the counsel shall jointly submit an
annual report to the Legislature on September 1 of each year on the
progress toward implementing the provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill isto provide services and
facilities to assist student veterans at state institutions of
higher education. The bill substantially adopts the recent
recommendations of the Veterans Initiative Task Force, which was
appointed by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.